Much like no. 158 [Carex pallescens L.]; pistillate spikes 5–12 mm; pistillate scales subrotund, much shorter than the perigynia, minutely cuspidate, conspicuously hyaline-margined; perigynia obovoid, 2.5–3.5 mm, narrowed to the base, the body conspicuously 15–25-nerved, rounded to a cylindric beak 0.2–0.5 mm; 2n=58. Thickets and moist meadows, mainly on the n. Great Plains; Wis. and Minn. to Alta., Mont., and Colo.